App state has a good ground game and chase actually looked improved. App has a running back from Miami northwestern as well. Now remember this was against ECU who isn’t good
The difference between this year and last year is that Frank Ponce came back to Boone from Louisville. He is running, at least it looks like to me, a combination of what had been run at App since 2014, what was run at Louisville with Hawkins and Atwell, and what Drinkwitz ran at NC State, App State, and is now running at Mizzou. App planned on using the Drinkwitz play book last year with Tony Peterson but COVID scrubbed those plans and it looked like they were running the most basic and predictable App State offense I'd probably ever seen; not that it was unusual last year with new staff's or coordinators.
As for Chase, he was not Duke's problem last year. This was all but confirmed when Duke just lost to Charlotte while App put a beat down on ECU, who is quite a bit better than Charlotte. App may not have "4 Star" guys like Duke has, and the average recruiting rankings even show Duke ahead of App, but watch both teams and tell me who is the more talented team. Brice completed more deep passes against ECU than he completed all of last year for Duke. Transferring in to a program like Duke who didn't even want to have their athletics play last year is a tough gig. It showed for everyone on that team. The fact he completed 20 of 25 passes against you all despite having only 1.5 seconds to throw every time he dropped back says a lot about him, in my opinion. Many look at that as a negative but I thought he played well within the context of how his entire team played.
One thing to keep in mind is that App beat UNC and USC in 2019. Many players that either started or contributed to those wins are still at App. I got shades of 2019 when App was about to take their run against ECU to 40-3 at the start of the 4th quarter but a bad play call on coverage defense resulted in Chase throwing a pick in the end zone, mind you App was up 33-9 and had been on a 33-3 run from the 1st quarter to that point.
Two players to watch for App, mostly for your purposes, are Northwestern guys Nate Noel and Demetrius Taylor. Against UNC, Taylor had 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a touchdown, and an interception. Nate Noel is probably 5'9 195 lbs but runs like he's 215. It must be the Miami Northwestern culture but those guys both play bigger than their measurables. App's starting running back is actually Cam Peoples and he's a big dude at 6'2 225 lbs. He runs a little high but neither him nor Noel went down on first contact once against ECU. I don't expect that streak to continue but it is something to keep in mind.
Defensively, you're looking at probably four sure fire NFL guys in Nick Hampton (31), D'Marco Jackson (52), Sean Jolly (8) and Demetrius "Meech" Taylor (9). A fifth guy that will get NFL Scouts attention is OLB/ILB Brenden Harrington. App runs a 3-4 base and will mix up back end numbers depending on what the offense is doing. On third down you're likely to see two down linemen with speed guys standing to confuse the QB into knowing who is blitzing and who is dropping. The benefit here is that all of those speed guys can cover as well as get around offensive linemen.
Offensively, App's offense line is quite a bit bigger than they were in 2016. That 2016 line saw two guys go on to the NFL in Colby Gossett and Parker Collins. Guys to watch on offense include running backs Cam Peoples (6), Nate Noel (20), Jahmir Smith, a ND transfer RB who wasn't able to go last week. App has three receivers likely to be drafted or get camp invites in Corey Sutton, a former Kansas State guy, Thomas Hennigan who you'll see if you watch the ECU game, Jalin Virgil and Malik Williams. I suspect you will see most of App's two-deep at receiver in this game as well considering they are all capable now. I expect the 2nd teamers to come in to spell the starters and maybe just as a function to bring a different speed element on sweeps, crossing routes, and post patterns that will work off of play action. Any time Miami goes single high safety, if the offensive line can block and pick-up blitzes, I'd expect to see some deep shots.
What do I expect to happen? I don't know. It could be a Miami blowout if the players execute as Miami is obviously the more talented team top to bottom. But football isn't about straight up talent, it's about match-ups, coaching, and scheming. I think App's coaching staff is as good as Miami's staff is personally, and I like App's scheme to neutralize some of Miami's advantages in size on offense. If App comes in and wins big plays, manages the clock, and avoids turnovers, I suspect the game will be close going in to the end. If there are turnovers and App can't get a few big plays on offense, it's going to be a long day.
The primary difference between 2016 and today is that most of App's second team guys would be starting for that 2016 team. So the depth we bring is of higher quality, more experience, bigger, faster, stronger, etc. It's going to be needed in Miami. Also, the game isn't going to be a huge event in Boone that acts as a distraction during the week. This will be business as usual.
However it isn't going to be like 2016 where we were bubble screened to death. It isn't going to be like 2016 where we were bubble screened to death. I swear, it better not be like 2016 where we were bubble screened to death. Also, this App team is better than UAB, FIU, and Louisiana Tech. App played UAB in 2019 to close the season and finished the game on a 31-3 run which is pretty close to the score you all won by in 2020. Obviously year to year there are differences but I wouldn't mistake App State for a lowly C-USA team.